Man drowns after saving woman, dog in Seneca River

View full sizeLauren Long / The Post-StandardState police identified this as the boat from which a person drowned Friday in the town of Lysander.

Update: The names of the people on the boat were released tonight by the state police. Frederick G. Luman Jr., 60, 61 Lock St., Baldwinsville, died while trying to rescue Susan C. Vorhis, 48, from Baldwinsville, and her dog. Luman owned the boat. The other passenger was Luman’s friend, Glen R. Grant, 63, of Syracuse.

Lysander, N.Y. -- A man drowned this afternoon after trying to rescue a woman who had jumped off their disabled boat on the Seneca River to rescue a dog, state police said.

The woman and the dog both had become tangled in weeds, and the man managed to get them to a nearby buoy with a life preserver, troopers said. He drowned while trying to return to the boat, troopers said.

Another man was also aboard the 24-foot 1987 Bayliner boat, state trooper Jack Keller said, noting it was their first trip in the boat.

They encountered engine problems and tried to bring the boat to the J&S Marina in Lysander on the Seneca River for repairs, Keller said.

The boat became disabled, and the dog jumped off the boat. He became tangled in weeds, and the woman jumped in to rescue the dog, Keller said.

After one of the men rescued them, “he became distraught and out of energy and drowned,” the trooper said.

The incident happened on the river in front of Gordon Road, a private road in Lysander. Lloyd Cawkins, 71, of 7497 Gordon Road, a volunteer firefighter, saw what was happening, jumped on his Jet Ski and tried to rescue the man. By the time he got there, though, the man had already drowned, Keller said.

Cawkins declined to comment. His daughter said he was “too shook up” to discuss the incident.

At 4:39 p.m., 911 personnel received the call of a disabled boat with several distraught individuals, Keller said.

The boaters remain unidentified, pending notification of family. The victim’s body was taken to the Onondaga County Medical Examiner’s Office for an autopsy, scheduled for Saturday morning.

View full sizeLauren Long / The Post-StandardA layer of weeds is visible on the Seneca River in the town of Lysander near where a drowning occurred Friday. The thick grassy plants form an underwater web along the shoreline and out to the path of the boats.

Neighbors said the thick weeds make the river unsuitable for swimming.

“If you get tangled in it, it’s real sticky. That’s why we don’t try to swim in it,” said Marguerite Lowe, of 7483 Gordon Road. “There’s a lot of nasty stuff that makes swimming not fun.”

Vicky Banas, of 7512 Gordon Road, said she was sitting on the side porch of her house when she heard some commotion.

“I hear a lot of voices on the river, but these sounded kind of panicky,” she said. “That’s why I came down here (to the dock) to see what all the yelling was about.”

The boat and buoy were a few hundred feet down the river, but close enough so she could see Cawkins on his Jet Ski and the woman pulled out of the water.

“All the rescue people started showing up — helicopters, firefighters, sheriff’s (deputies),” she said. “Then all the emergency crews took over.” 